Razor with a reciprocating blade



y 30, 1967 R. R. HARR ETAL 3,323,831

RAZOR WITH A RECIFROCATING BLADE Filed June 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ROBERT R. HARR OTIS STERLING LLOYD BY Q ATTORNEYS RAZOR WITH A RECIPROCATING BLADE Filed June 29, 1965 3 meets-Sheet 2 INVE'NTORS ROBERT R. HAHR OTIS STERLING LLOYD ATTORNEYS Filed June 29, 1965 y 30, 1967 R. R. HARR ETAL 3,321,831

RAZOR WITH A RECIPROCA'IING BLADE I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG] INVENTORS ROBERT R. HARR OTIS STERLING LLOYD ATTORNEYS 3,321,831 RAZUR WITH A RECHPRUCATING BLADE Robert R. Hart, East New Market, and (his Sterling Lloyd,

Salisbury, Md, assignors to Cambridge Scientific Industries, incorporated, Cambridge, Md a corporation of Maryland Fiied June 29, 1965, Ser. No. 467,935 3 Claims. (Cl. 30--45) This invention relates to an electric razor having a reciprocating razor blade, and more particularly, to an electric razor having spring operated blade inserting and ejecting means.

Razors of this general type are disclosed in our copending patent application Serial Number 435,005, filed on February 24, 1965, and embody powendriven means for imparting a reciprocatory end-to-end movement to a cutting blade. Razors of this type have had a major drawback in that the blade was retained in the shaving head by a cumbersome and complex mechanism. It was necessary to remove the entire head of the razor and to loosen a threaded ferrule in order to remove the razor blade. This presented a major problem since in order for any razor to gain widespread use, it must be easy to manipulate.

Furthermore, the head unit of razors of this type had heretofore been attached to the base solely by a friction holding connection. This sole connection had the disadvantage that it could become loose after a period of use. Also, the attachment of a driven ferrule by a threaded connection was cumbersome and inefiicient as the ferrule tended to loosen after a period of use due to vibrations and necessary handling each time a blade was to be inserted or removed.

In overcoming this deficiency in the prior art, the present invention provides a razor having a pair of co-acting springs in the head portion thereof so that a blade may be inserted in the razor or ejected from the razor in a single manipulation. One of the springs grips a shaft member connected to the cap of the razor head while the other spring is utilized in freeing the cap from the gripplug spring. The razor blade is positioned under the cap and is held in position by pressure exerted by the cap. The gripping spring is an off-center spring which exerts a holding pressure on the cap during use and snaps the cap and blade outwardly upon displacement through the center position to an above-center position by the initiating spring.

The handle of the razor is provided with a pair of resilient members which are utilized in cooperation with the frictional holding means to retain the head unit in the proper and desired position on the handle. The pair of resilient members comprise a snap lock for the head unit of the razor.

The blade carrying member of the razor has been provided with downwardly extending members which retain the magnet utilized in driving the razor. The downwardly extending members tightly grip the magnet and substantially prevent its removal.

It is, therefore, a prime object of our invention to provide blade releasing means for an electric razor which does away with complex structures utilized in prior art electric razors.

It is a further object of our invention to provide blade releasing means in an electric razor which is effective, reliable and efficient.

Another object of our invention is to provide retaining means for the head unit of an electric razor which is reliable and eiiicient.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a holding means for a driven magnet which is effective and yet easy to provide.

tates Patent Other objects and novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the electric razor constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial side View showing the head portion of the razor;

FIGURE 3 is a the razor;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the head structure of the razor;

FIGURE 5 is a partial section view of the razor head taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 3 showing the spring members in normal cap engaging position;

FIGURE 6 is a section view of the razor similar to FIGURE 5, which shows the position of the spring members after release of the blade;

FIGURE 7 is a partial section view of the razor head portion along line 7-7 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now to FIGURES 1-4 of the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views, an electric razor indicated generally by 10, comprises a casing 12 which has the shape of a handle, which casing houses a portion of the electric drive and is provided with a removable head 14.

The head 14 is removably supported on the casing 12 by means which provides for firm interengagement between the head and casing. The head comprises a guard roller supporting member 16 having integral upwardly extruding flanges or shoulders 21 and 23 and downwardly extending gripping elements 18 and 20. The gripping elements are utilized to retain the head 14 on the casing 12. The casing 12 has upwardly projecting holding members 22 which cooperate with the gripping elements 18 and 20 to retain the support member 16 securely on the casing and substantially prevent any relative motion between the member 16 and the casing 12. T. e gripping elements 18 and 20 have inwardly facing frictional holding flanges 19 formed therewith. The holding flanges 19 frictionally grip the outer edges of the holding members 22 and thereby substantially prevent end-to-end movement of the member 16.

The other components which are utilized to retain the head in the desired position and which substantially prevent side-toside movement of support member 16 relative to the handle are shown in FIGURE 7. The upwardly projecting holding members 22 have release members 24 attached thereto. The holding members 22 have recesses 26 formed at their uppermost ends. The support member 16 is formed with bent shoulders 28 thereon as clearly seen in FIGURE 7 which shoulders are received by recesses 26 when the head portion 14 of the razor is in operative position. The intercooperation between the recesses 26, the shoulders 28, and the frictional gripping of the elements 18 and 20 comprises the gripping means of the removable head 14 which substantially prevents any relative side-to-side movement of member 16 relative to the handle 12.

The holding members 22 are formed of a resilient material and pressure on the release members 24 will move the holding members 2.2 inwardly of the shoulders 28 and allow the head 14 to be removed. The double gripping action of the elements 18 and 20 and the shoulders 28 in the recesses 26 provides a secure mounting of the head 14 on the casing 10 and yet permits the head to be removed with a minimum of effort.

The uppermost portions of the holding members 22 are beveled so that when it is desired to replace the head unit 14 onto the razor base the shoulders 28 cam the beveled portions of the flange elements inwardly until partial end view of the head portion of 3 the shoulders go beyond the beveled portions and cooperate with the recesses 26. When this occurs, the members 22 snap into their normal position and the head unit is securely retained on the base.

The support member 16 is further provided with upwardly extending shoulder elements 21 and 23 which provide support means for a pair of eccentrically mounted rotatable guard rollers 25. The operation and function of the guard rollers 25 is fully set forth in our copending application, Serial Number 435,005, referred to hereinbefore. The guard rollers 25 are provided with handles 27 by means of which the rollers can be rotated.

A blade carrier 30, a blade 32, and a cap 34 are resiliently mounted by means of double arm leaf springs 33 for reciprocatory end-t-end movement in a direction parallel to the cutting edge of the razor blade as clearly seen in FIGURES 4-6.

The top ends of the springs 33 are connected to the blade carrier 30 by means of rivets 35, while the lower ends of the springs are secured to support member 16 by means of rivets 39. The spring elements 33 are preferably made of resilient metal so that while the springs permit endwise reciprocatory motion they also cooperate to substantially prevent any side-to-side motion.

The blade carrying member 30 is positioned above element 16 and is mounted for reciprocatory end-to-end movement by means of the springs 33. Member 30 has two upwardly extending blade positioning prongs 36 which are positioned so as to receive the razor blade 32 and to prevent movement of the blade 32 relative to the member 39. The blade carrier also has a pair of magnet retainers 38 extending downwardly therefrom. The retainers 38 have interior arcuate surfaces 40 which are adapted to receive a magnet 42. and frictionally retain the magnet.

The blade carrier 30 has an opening 44 therein spaced inwardly of said prongs 36. The opening 44 is provided to house the blade holding and ejecting members.

The cap 34 has a shaft 46 projecting downwardly therefrom. The shaft has opposing cap retaining notches 48 positioned near the base thereof. The cap has slotted openings (or holes) which receive the upper portions of prongs 36.

Positioned in said opening 44 is an off center spring 50 which is pivotally retained in recesses in the blade carrying member '30. The off center spring 50 has two gripping portions 51 and 53. The gripping portions are utilized to grip the notches 48 in the shaft 46 of the cap 34 fit order to retain the cap in its operative position. When in operative position the spring 50 is sprung bel w its center position and therefore creates a tension on the shaft 46 thereby forcing the cap 34 into tight engagement with the blade 32 and the blade carrying member 30. Thus the insertion of the cap causes the shaft 46 to initially displace the spring 50 and the displacement is sufficient to move the spring through its center position so that it snaps to the position shown in FIGURE 5. Simultaneously, as the cap 34' is inserted, the gripping portions 51 and 53 of the spring 50 grip the shaft 46 by means of the cap retaining notches 48 and thereby hold the cap 34 in contact with the blade 32 and the member 30. The cap 34 must be firmly pressed onto the member 30 in order to insure a gripping connection between the spring 50 and the shaft 46. The spring 50' is so positioned that upon being sprung to its below center position the grippers 51 and 53. grip the shaft 46 and create the desired pressure on the cap '34.

Thus the blade carrying member 30, the blade 32, and the cap 34 move as a unit when the razor is in operation.

The support member 16 has a pair of openings 60 in the downwardly extending gripping elements 18 and 20. The openings 60 receive finger engaging cap releasing members 62 therein. The cap releasing members 62 are utilized to operate a second spring 64 which spring initiates movement of the off center spring 50 to a position above the center position. The members 62 have the outer faces thereof ribbed as at 63 to provide a finger gripping surface. The inner ends of the members 64 are provided with arcuate recesses 66. The spring 62 is curled at its ends 65 which ends are received in the recesses 66 of the members 64.

The initiating spring 64 is shown in its normal position in FIGURE 5 and in its ejecting position in FIGURE 6. The spring 64 normally has a tendency to assume the position shown in FIGURE 5 and normally forces the members 62 to their outermost positions. The members 62 are movable in the openings 60 in the stationary element 16. When a blade is to be ejected, the members 62 are moved inwardly thereby causing the initiating spring 64 to contact the off center spring 56 and to move the spring 50 through its center position. After oflf center spring 50 moves through its center position it is sprung and therefore snaps to its above center position. The initiating spring 64 moves thes pring 50 to slightly above its center position and thereafter the spring 50 snaps to its above center position without further cooperation With the initiating spring 64. As the spring 50 snaps to its above center position the gripping portions 51 and 53 spread apart and release the shaft 56 of the cap 34- thereby allowing the snap action of the spring to eject the cap 34 and the blade 32.

Thus it is seen that the springs 50 and 64. cooperate to create a reliable and eflective blade inserting and ejecting mechanism.

The blade carrying member 30 has permanent magnet retainers 38 which have interior arcuate surfaces 40 adapted to frictionally retain the permanent magnet 42. The permanent magnet 42 cooperates with electromagnet means in the casing 12 to impart reciprocating motion to the permanent magnet 42 and the member 30, blade 32, and the cap 34. The support member 16 remains stationary when the razor is operated thus creating a relative motion between the blade 32 and the rollers 25 which are mounted in the member 16.

In operation, a blade is placed on the blade carrying member 30 and the cap 34 is then snapped into position and retained in position by the gripping portions of the off center spring 50. The cap, the blade, and the blade carrying member are thereby retained together and are adapted to move as a unit. The blade carrying member houses the magnet which receives reciprocatory motion when the electrically operated magnetic means in the easing is energized. The cap, blade and blade carrier form a unit mounted on the pair of spring members 33 and receives end-to-end reciprocatory motion. The spring members are of a width sufiicient to prevent the blade carrier and the parts associated therewith from receiving any side-to-side motion. The blade reciprocates relative to the adjustable eccentric rollers 25 on the stationary element and thus a shaving of a beard is performed effectively by both the reciprocating shearing action of the blade with respect to the beard and by the conventional movement of razor as a Whole across the skin.

The entire head unit may be readily removed by pressuring the release members '24 inwardly thereby causing the holding members 22 to move inwardly and disengage the shoulders 28 from the recesses 26 and then pulling the head unit so as to overcome the frictional engagement of the flanges 19 and the holding members 22. The head unit may be replaced by simply pushing it back onto the handle and permitting the shoulders 28 to cam the holding members 22 inwardly. Upon alignment of the shoulders 28 with the recesses 26 of the holding members 22, the members 22 will snap into head engaging position with the shoulders 28 in the recesses 26.

The blade can be ejected from the head unit :by simply pressing members 62 which causes the initiating spring 64 to move the off center spring 50, which holds the cap, to its above center position whereby the cap and razor blade are ejected.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that a highly efiicient and much more satisfactory blade inserting and releasing means has been provided by the present invention. Also a more effective head unit releasing and inserting structure has been provided along with a more eflicient means of retaining the magnet.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is to be expressly understood however, that the drawings are utilized for purposes of illustration only, and are not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An electric razor comprising a stationary support member, a blade carrier adapted to carry a blade having at least one cutting edge, said blade carrier being mounted on said stationary member for reciprocatory motion relative thereto in a direction substantially parallel to said cutting edge, said blade carrier having a central opening, a cap normally positioned above said blade carrier and having a shaft which projects downwardly through the said opening in the blade carrier, spring biased gripping means connected to said blade carrier for gripping the said shaft and urging the cap towards the blade carrier to hold a blade bet-ween the blade carrier and the cap, and a release means mounted on said stationary member, said release means including a resilient member separate from and movable relative to said spring means and resiliently movable to a position whereat it causes disengagement of said spring means from said shaft.

2. An electric razor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spring biased gripping means includes a resilient element movable to a first off-center position by said shaft for causing the element to grip the shaft, and movable to a second off-center position by said resilient member of said release means for releasing the shaft from the gripping means.

3. An electric razor as claimed in claim 2 wherein said release means includes at least one slidable member mounted to slide in a recess in said stationary member, said resilient member being connected to said sliding member, wherein sliding of said slideable member moves the resilient member against the force of its natural resiliency to disengage said spring means from said shaft.

4. An electric razor as claimed in claim 3 wherein said shaft includes at least one notch, and said resilient element includes a projection which engages said notch to grip the shaft.

5. An electric razor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said release means includes at least one slideable member mounted to slide in a recess in said stationary member, said resilient member "being connected to said sliding member, wherein sliding of said slideable member moves the resilient member against the force of its natural resiliency to disengage said spring means from said shaft.

6. An electric razor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said razor further includes an electric drive means for causing the said reciprocatory movement of said blade carrier, and said blade carrier includes at least one downwardly extending flange, and a magnetic element held by said downwardly extending flange for acting in cooperation with said electric drive means to cause said reciprocatory movement.

7. An electric razor as claimed in claim 6 wherein said spring biased gripping means includes a resilient element movable to a first off-center position by said shaft for causing the element to grip the shaft, and movable to a econd off-center position by said resilient member of said release means for releasing the shaft from the gripping means, and wherein said release means includes at least one slideable member mounted to slide in a recess in said stationary member, said resilient member being connected to said sliding member, wherein sliding of said slideable member moves the resilient member against the force of its natural resiliency to disengage said spring means from said shaft.

3. An electric razor as claimed in claim 7 including two said downwardly extending flanges in opposing relationship to each other, and at least a portion of each of said resilient element, said resilient member and said magnetic element being positioned between said flanges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,296,080 3/1919 Holt 30-68 1,497,153 6/1924 Moulton 3074 1,879,900 9/1932 Hofmann 30-68 X 2,052,395 8/1936 Geissler 3060 2,114,219 5/1938 Florrnan 30-43 2,227,339 12/ 1940 Florman 30-43 2,229,959 1/1941 Dalkowitz 30-43 2,532,372 12/1950 Sanders 30-74 X 2,609,602 9/1952 Harshberger 3045 3,229,367 1/1966 Lewis 30--69 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,107,441 8/ 1955 France. 1,053,971 3/1959 Germany.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. MYRON C. KRUSE, Examiner. 

1. AN ELECTRIC RAZOR COMPRISING A STATIONARY SUPPORT MEMBER, A BLADE CARRIER ADAPTED TO CARRY BLADE HAVING AT LEAST ONE CUTTING EDGE, SAID BLADE CARRIER BEING MOUNTED ON SAID STATIONARY MEMBER FOR RECIPROCATORY MOTION RELATIVE THERETO IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID CUTTING EDGE, SAID BLADE CARRIER HAVING A CENTRAL OPENING, A CAP NORMALLY POSITIONED ABOVE SAID BLADE CARRIER AND HAVING A SHAFT WHICH PROJECTS DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE SAID OPENING IN THE BLADE CARRIER FOR GRIPPING THE MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID BLADE CARRIER FOR GRIPPING THE SAID SHAFT AND URGING THE CAP TOWARDS THE BLADE CARRIER TO HOLD A BLADE BETWEEN THE BLADE CARRIER AND THE CAP, AND A RELEASE MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID STATIONARY MEMBER, SAID RELEASE MEANS INCLUDING A RESILIENT MEMBER SEPARATE FROM AND MOVABLE RELATIVE TO SAID SPRING MEANS AND RESILIENTLY MOVABLE TO A POSITION WHEREAT IT CAUSES DISENGAGEMENT OF SAID SPRING MEANS FROM SAID SHAFT. 